The Allstate Tailgate Tour, a unique and interactive fan experience visiting college football stadiums across the country, will make an appearance in Columbia before the South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. 

At the tour, located on the corner of Bluff Road and National Guard Road outside of Williams-Brice Stadium, fans can enter the “Allstate 60 Seconds of Mayhem Sweepstakes” where two finalists will compete in a field goal kick competition at the Allstate Sugar Bowl to win a VIP trip to the 2013 BCS National Championship in Miami.

From creating signs in support of the Gamecocks to playing games for a chance to win tailgate items, fans can take part in a variety of family-friendly activities at the Allstate Tailgate Tour. Fans can also take commemorative pictures of themselves to share instantly on social media.  The Allstate Tailgate Tour will be open from 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 27.

Fans can also visit www.allstatecfb.com to enter the “Allstate 60 Seconds of Mayhem Sweepstakes.”

University of Tennessee

Location: Knoxville, TN

Students: 27,523, (21,803 undergrad)

2012 record: 3-4 overall, 0-4 SEC

Overall Vs. USC: UT leads the series 22-6-2, USC has won the last 2

Head Coach: Derek Dooley, in his 3rd season with a record of 14-18

Read below to find out what will happen on Saturday.
 

According to the University of South Carolina and the Maxwell Football Club, sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has been added to the 2012 Watch List for the 76th Maxwell Award.

Here is copy from the press release:

The original Maxwell Award Watch List was comprised of 65 players, who were selected based on their performances during the 2011 season. As the 2012 season has progressed, the Club believes that Clowney and six other players warranted attention because of their noteworthy play.

Clowney, a 6-6, 256-pounder from Rock Hill, S.C., has been named to the 2012 Midseason All-America first team by both Phil Steele and Sporting News. Through eight games this season, Clowney has 36 tackles, including 14.0 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. He is a two-time SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week recipient.

Two-thirds of the way through his second season donning the Garnet & Black, Clowney already ranks in a tie for sixth in school history with 15.5 sacks and in a tie for 11th in career tackles for loss with 26.0.

The Maxwell Award is presented to the top college football player in the nation. It is named after Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, a Philadelphia sportswriter and former college football player who passed away in a 1922 car accident at age 37. The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 by Maxwell's friend, Bert Bell, to present awards in his name and to promote football safety.

Clowney was previously named to the watch lists for the Walter Camp Award, the Bednarik Award, the Nagurski Trophy, the Hendricks Award and the Lombardi Award.

33 points.  A game that was supposed to be decided by 3 1/2 points was decided by nearly 10 times that number.  Saturday's game started bad and went down hill from there.  Every time South Carolina stopped the bleeding and seemed to slow the game down, another turnover made the comeback more and more unlikely.  The first drive of the third quarter finally closed the door on any possibility of a win.  The only question to be answered was how bad was it going to get.  Bad.

The only good thing about the Florida game is that it is over.  Some other things are over too.  USC's SEC East winning streak ended after 12 games.  Appropriately, it was the Florida Gators who ended it.  Appropriate because they are the only school in the East to have had a longer streak in SEC East play, and they've had three of them.  The Gamecocks are out of the hunt for a national title.  They are all but mathematically eliminated from the SEC East race and thus the SEC.

The Georgia game was pointed to as a barometer this year.  The Bulldogs were the favorite for the East, in part because of their ridiculously easy schedule.  South Carolina didn't just beat the Bulldogs two weeks ago; they destroyed them.  They announced their candidacy for the national title and raised expectations high.  Too high it would turn out.

College football recruiting has always been an odd subculture. From the dollar a minute 900 numbers and subscription news letters of the 1980's and mid 90's, to the explosion of online pay for access recruiting networks, die hard fans have always known that five star studs don't just show up on campus and have always been willing to open their wallet to whoever could deliver the inside scoop. Looking at the last four South Carolina- Florida games is a case study in why recruiting well is mandatory in this conference. As Will Muschamp says "recruiting is like shaving. If you don't do it every day, you look like a bum". I guess Muschamp does not subscribe to the BGID theory on life.

2008- Florida 56 Carolina 6. This game may well to the low point of Spurrier's career at Carolina. Returning to the house he named and made famous, Spurrier opted for two long field goals just to avoid the goose egg. Looking at the rosters explains the final. For the Gators that day, 21 future NFL players were playing that day. The bulk of those players were signed by Urban Meyer in his 2006 and 2007 recruiting classes. Carolina had far fewer NFl players (Chris Culliver the only one coming to mind)

2009 Florida 24 South Carolina 14. Florida lost Percy Harvin, among others to the NFL, while South Carolina signed national recruits Stephon Gilmore and Alshon Jeffrey. Gilmore led the Gamecocks in tackles with 10 while Jeffrey hauled in 6 passes. The gap among personnel (and coaching staffs) was narrowing.

Here is our look at the SEC East:

Trending up:

Florida: The Gators are the only SEC East team left that have an unblemished conference record. While the Gators passing statistics are poor, UF has not been forced to throw the ball very much and Driskel has been a victim of some drops. Brent Pease is finding creatice ways to run the ball and went with what worked against Vanderbilt, calling the read option that resulted in 2 Driskel TDs. The Gator D played it;s worst game of the year but Florida's special teams stepped it up with a well executed fake punt, blocked field goal, and two point conversion. The Gators and Gamecocks clash Saturday in Gainesviile, in what very well could decide the East.

Holding steady:

South Carolina: Last weekend in Death Valley, South Carolina played a game that they really wanted to win. LSU played a game that they HAD to win. While losing a conference game is never a positive thing, the thing Carolina fans need to focus on is that all of the goals are still in front of them. The SEC East is still in play. An SEC championship is still in play. Carolina may need some help with the BCS CG birth, but Spurrier's focus has been on winning a conference title at South Carolina. A win in Gainesville goes a long way to creating that reality.

More...

Yesterday morning The Bull Gator and I talked Florida - South Carolina with Tyler Ryan on Good Day Columbia. If you missed it, here it is.

If you want more on the game, check out The Bull Gator and of course the rest of this site.

Posted with Blogsy

University of Florida

Location: Gainesville, Florida

Stadium:  Ben Hill Griffen Stadium (The Swamp) Capacity 88,548

Head Coach: Will Muschamp-2nd season as head coach (13-6 overall record)

2012 Record: 6-0 overall, 5-0 SEC

Vs. USC: Florida leads the series 23-6-3, but USC has won 2 in a row.



Read below for more insight between South Carolina and Florida.....

On Wednesday, both Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp spoke about the upcoming clash between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Florida Gators. Take a listen:

Steve Spurrier...

Will Muschamp...

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier talked about the Gamecocks football team today and disclosed that several key Gamecocks have been limited in practice heading into the Florida game.

Tailback Marcus Lattimore is nursing a  bruisied hip suffered in last Saturday’s loss at LSU. After Wednesday’s practice, Spurrier sounded uncertain about Lattimore playing at Florida. Spurrier said Kenny Miles and Mike Davis got all the reps Wednesday. Let's all pray that Lattimore gets to full-speed very soon as the team is going to need him to topple the Gators on their turf.

Lattimore isn’t the only ailing USC player as a shoulder sprain likely will sideline starting defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles and a flu bug has been making its way through the USC locker room this week.

Here is a rundown of those Gamecocks missing practice time in addition to those mentioned above: receiver Bruce Ellington, offensive tackle Mike Matulis, cornerback Jimmy Legree and receiver Ace Sanders. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was “limited” Wednesday because “his foot is bothering him.” And in case you wanted more, sprained ankles to starting defensive tackle Byron Jerideau and top reserve defensive tackle J.T. Surratt have limited both men in getting key reps this week.

Geez....

This is not something you want to hear as you enter a top ten match-up with SEC East implications.

If all the above players are not or very close to 100% it will be a tall-order to beat Florida. Not saying it can not be done as the Gamecocks are deep but as you can see from the above list of players...we are talking about key depth here. As we noted to pray for Lattimore, may all USC fans hope and pray the wounded Gamecocks get well soon. As the state motto says..."While I breathe, I hope."